You're Awful I Love You
by Keitorin Asthore
Summary: A series of drabbles dedicated to the many love-hate relationships in Shaman King. #1: "Love Me Dead." Yoh finds that not all of Anna's various training exercises are that bad.


**Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.**

-

-

-

**"Love Me Dead"**

**Yoh and Anna**

**Takes place around chapter eleven of the manga.**

-

-

-

He knew he was in trouble.

Yoh stood at the starting line with the other boys, the summer sunshine heating the back of his neck. His classmates lazed around, chatting while trying not to stare too much at the girls across the field.

"God bless gymnastics day," one of them mumbled.

He couldn't help it. He glanced across the field at the girls. They stood around, waiting to take their turn on the balance beam. Most of them clustered in little groups and giggled, but one girl in particular caught his eye. Small and slender, with her bright waving hair tied at the nape of her neck with a scarlet ribbon, she stood by herself, studying the equipment as if she was sizing it up. She wore the same gym uniform as the other girls- a white tee shirt and short red shorts.

_For someone so little, her legs are awfully long…_

Too late he remembered that whole mind-reading thing. From across the field Anna leveled a glare that could have cut glass. Yoh ducked his head, trying to erase the mental image of Anna in her gym uniform and any thoughts that might pertain to it.

"Take your places," the boys' coach hollered.

Yoh pulled his hair back and lined up. Suddenly the ghost of Kobayashi the track star popped up beside him. "Oi, boss, ya ready for this?" he said.

"Not now," Yoh hissed. "I can do it on my own."

"Aw, come on," Kobayashi pestered. "You know you want me!"

He didn't have to look at Anna to know that she was staring at him. "Go away!" he said. The student next to him gave him an odd look. Yoh just smiled awkwardly.

The coach blew the whistle and Yoh took off running. He was so focused, in fact, that he was halfway around the track before he remembered this was the hundred-meter dash.

And he still didn't win.

-----

"I am so dead," Yoh mumbled under his breath.

"I'm telling ya, man, if you had just used me," Kobayashi sulked. Yoh rolled his eyes and tossed his gym clothes in his locker. He trooped into the hallway, joining the milling crowd of Shinra students.

A pretty girl hopped up to him. "Um, Asakura?" she said.

"Huh?" was his intelligent answer.

"Kyoyama wanted me to give this to you."

He took the note as one would pick up a hot coal and unfolded it cautiously. It was written in Anna's perfect copperplate cursive.

_Meet me in the third music room the moment the last bell rings. I'm changing your training regime._

He groaned. Sure, other couples met in the third music room to make out. He got to go there to be trained to death. Fantastic.

-----

Yoh dragged his feet to the music room. Someone was playing the piano, but the pretty melody did nothing to improve his mood. He pushed the door open and looked around for Anna. No one was there but the pianist.

It took him a moment to realize that Anna _was _the pianist. She sat on the glossy black bench with her back ramrod straight, her slender fingers tripping easily over the keys. The melody wasn't classical like he would have predicted, but soft and almost bluesy.

His bookbag slipped from his fingers and clattered to the polished floor. He scrambled to pick it up as she pulled her fingers away from the keys. "You're late," she accused.

"I'm sorry," he defended.

"You should be," she said, sliding off the piano bench. "Would you care to explain _this _to me?"

She pointed to a handful of sheepish-looking ghosts, looped together by a rope of pearls. He blinked. "You brought your rosary to school?"  
"Of course I did," she snapped. "But that's beside the point. I understand you've been using these ghosts to get by in school?"

He could feel his ears turning red. "Yeah…"

"Kendo?"

"Yeah."

"Art?"

"Yeah."

"Sports?"

"Yeah."

"Music?"

"Yeah."

"Sci-"

"Anna, how about I just say 'yes to all of the above,' because that's pretty much your answer."

She scowled at him. "Sit," she commanded, pointing to the piano bench. "I'll take care of them, and then I'm starting with you."

Yoh slunk to the seat she had pointed as she completed the incantation that would send his tickets to a straight-A report card to heaven. _Now I have to do this all by myself_, he thought unhappily.

Anna dusted off her hands. "You're going to need a lot of work all the way around, but I have a feeling that piano is the worst," she said. "Ironic, considering you seem to be so enamored of music."

"It would be different if they let me play the guitar," he protested.

"But Shinra demands competency in piano, so play it you shall," she said. She opened a book of sheet music. "Try this."

He squinted at the rows of lines and dots. "What am I looking at?" he inquired.

"You can't even read music?" she said, exasperated. "Ugh. You're an idiot. Just start with a scale."

"A what?"

She rolled her eyes, leaned over his shoulder, and plunked out a C-scale with one finger. Her hair tumbled over her shoulder, and for a moment he was forgot where he was and what he was doing, lost in the scent of her shampoo.

"Are you trying to eat my hair?" she said. She straightened and tied her hair back with a bit of red ribbon. "Go on and try the scale."

Obediently he picked out the notes. "Like that?" he asked.

"Sort of," she said. "And when I say sort of, I mean no." She leaned over him again and played it fluidly with one hand, then moved to a D scale. "Playing the piano not only makes a person more cultured, but it also improves dexterity. Something you are sorely lacking." She played a series of chords. "And besides, if you fail piano, it'll go on your permanent record."

She took his right hand and placed it over the keyboard. "Hold your hand like this," she said, manipulating his fingers. Her hand felt cool and fragile. "Keep your fingers high. Try to be graceful. I know that's hard for you."

Yoh tried the C-scale again, trying to copy how Anna had played. He played it through clumsily, stopped, tried it again. "Hey, that's better!" he said.

"That's not saying much," she said dryly. She sat down on the edge of the bench and nudged him with her hip. He scooted over.

Anna played the melody written on the sheet music without bothering to glance at the keys. "You're pretty good," he commented.

"Kino made me learn," she said. "A queen ought to be well-rounded."

It wasn't the same bluesy melody she had been playing earlier, but it sounded nice. He watched her play. Her lips parted slightly in concentration; she leaned into the keyboard as she pressed the pedals. Her hip was perilously close to touching his, and her soft bare knee was right against him.

"Yoh," she said slowly, still playing. "If you don't stop staring at me, I'm going to take your eyes away."

He dropped his gaze to his hands. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Anna drew her slim hands away from the keyboard. "By the end of the day, you will be able to play your scales backwards and forwards," she said.

That was not a suggestion. "All of them?" he asked meekly.

"All of them."

"What about my training?"

"This is your training. C-scale. Go."

He tripped up and down the scale. Anna repositioned his elbows. "You look like a retarded chicken. Stop it."

He played it smoothly, stopped, and tried again. Anna nodded; he kept playing up and down. But while he played, he couldn't help but be painfully aware of her nearness, of the sun from the tall windows shining on her blonde hair, of her perilously short skirt. She watched him play with a slight frown that drew her mouth into almost a pout.

Of all the different forms of training he had to endure, this was most likely his favorite.

-

-

-

**Author's Notes:**

I've been reading so many fantastic drabble series lately (especially the ones by ShatteredLyre) and finally felt inspired to write my own! Each one is inspired by a lyric from the song "Love Me Dead" by Ludo. Go watch the video for it on Youtube; not only is a fantastic song, but it's one of the best continous-shot videos ever. Go check it out.

In any case, I'm going to bop around through all sorts of Shaman King couples for this bad boy. It'll pretty epic (I hope).

Also, in the case of this oneshot, Anna was playing the song "That's Okay" by the Hush Sound. They sound like the kind of band she might like. Plus, I lurves them.

I hope you liked this!

_Next up: Faust and Eliza_


End file.
